For the most natural light you'll want Full Spectrum. I don't pay out electric bill, but I do know that my hubby has said before that we spend about the same here on our all electric home than we did in our last home which had gas heat. This home is about twice the size too. We changed to CFLs after moving here because of all the light fixtures in hopes to cut costs. I'm sorry I can't be of more help detail wise, but we are saving.

Not sure if your realtor meant soft wht or warm wht? - I use warm wht and love them.
Initially, I first bought cool wht and promptly relegated them to the basement - then I found a 3-way warm wht spiral CFL at Walmart and figured if I didn't care for it--it would be returned.
It stayed.

The one thing I would recommend if getting them in higher wattage, they seem dim to their equivalent--but even a few more watts is better than what you current have and they will be more comfortable on the eyes.

Jim

I have tried them all. Really. Hate 'em. Except for the Reveal CFLs which seem to be as rare as hen's teeth and even more expensive than the regular ones. I am hanging on, waiting for LED bulbs to come online. I have recessed LEDs in the kitchen and love them. They use even less energy than the CFLs and give a beautiful light. CRI is 92.

Honestly, $100 is hard to believe...

There is a big difference in the color of the light. I have a 2 bulb ceiling fixture. One must be a cheaper bulb and the other, I bought a pack of "natural Light" which were more expensive and not on sale. One bulb obviously gives off a very yellow colored light, the other a clean white color.
I really need to get up on a ladder and fix it, it really bothers me. But a great example of the different quality of light.

CFLs use about 1/4 of the wattage of incandescent bulbs. Ditching nearly all of the incandescent bulbs was about the first thing I did when I moved here.

The soft-white and bright-white Home Depot EcoSmart bulbs, mostly the 14w (replaces 60w incandescent), make up most of my lighting. They give off good quality light (I find light from the soft-white version to be indistinguishable from an incandescent bulb), they turn on at nearly full brightness, and who can complain about $5.99 for a 4-pack?

The Sylvania Micro-Mini 23w CFLs (replace 100w) are also great because they're as small as most 14w bulbs, whereas most 23w CFLs are larger than incandescent bulbs and don't always fit in your lamp_fixture. These are sold in two varieties - the usual Soft White and something called Living Spaces - the latter is noticeably less bright, but gives off a completely different quality of light than most CFLs. It's not obvious from the packaging what's different about them - the bulbs look identical to their Micro-Mini Soft White bulbs and have similar specifications on the box - but buried in their web site is an explanation of how a different phosphor mix highlights reds better than other CFLs (link) - I have these in a few rooms; can't decide if I like them or not, but they're definitely worth trying out if you find other CFLs unpalatable. A very warm-looking light, almost too warm, but it certainly won't remind you of cheap office lighting, and these need no warm-up time whatsoever and turn on at full brightness. There's a $1-off coupon on their website.

I haven't tried the GE Reveal CFLs yet. On paper (based on their specs) they don't look much different than the bright-white HD bulbs and are alot more expensive, but as the Sylvania site I linked to explains, industry-standard metrics like CRI (color rendering index) haven't kept up with recent developments in lighting and don't accurately reflect real-world perception of lighting quality. Everyone seems to like these, so I'll have to try them someday.

Some of my friends swear by Ott-Lite CFLs, which are meant to replicate natural daylight.

LED retrofit bulbs are starting to approach affordability, and are worth considering, especially for downlights since LEDs are directional by nature, and because every CFL floodlamp bulb I've tried takes forever to warm up.

I have quite a few CFLs in our house. I tried several types until I hit on the Reveal CFLs. The Reveal CFLs were so much better than any other CFLs I tried that I've replaced all the other CFLs with them.

I'm lucky I guess. My Lowes and Walmart both carry the Reveal CFLs.

Which type would give the best lighting for a bathroom mirror where you put on makeup? I was in a hotel a few months ago and the lighting was fabulous (cuz it made me look good!)--simply 4 cfl's in the over-head light fixtures. They were up-lights, so I couldn't get a look at the brand, etc., only that they were cfl. Also, the color on 2 of them was "warm" while the other two were "cool". I think they did this on purpose? Anyone know? I'm about to buy all our bulbs for the new house and want to look good in my mirror!

Thanks.

Great thread, thanks!

Just don't forget that CFLs need to be recycled at your hazardous waste center.

> Which type would give the best lighting for a bathroom mirror where you put on makeup?

It depends on whether you want to see how you'll look indoors or out. Indoor light is usually warm - like incandescent or halogen bulbs and most CFLs - so use soft-white or warm-white bulbs (2700 to 3000°K) that match most indoor lighting. To see what you'll look like outdoors, use daylight-balanced bulbs (5000°K is bright sunlight, 6500°K is cooler, more like an overcast sky). Those numbers are usually somewhere in small print on the packaging. Neutral/bright white light bulbs - 3500°K - used to be common only in commercial settings like offices, but recently have become popular for home use too (GE Reveal, etc.) In all cases, you want it to be bright, but especially if you go with daylight bulbs, which don't achieve their desired effect unless it's bright. If you want to get really fancy, put both warm and daylight bulbs in your bathroom on separate switches, and turn on either or both as needed.

> Just don't forget that CFLs need to be recycled at your hazardous waste center.

Many home centers and IKEA also recycle fluorescent/CFL bulbs

Lee676, that's great as long as you make sure they don't end up dumping them in a landfill.

Why, have there been some incidents where CFL bulbs (or batteries or whatnot) brought to in-store recycling bins were dumped in a landfill instead of recycled?

The issue with fluorescent and HID light bulbs is that they have a very small amount of mercury in them. Some of the newer ones have much less mercury than older ones.